Ritchin mentioned the “fluidity of the digital” to mean that in “post-photographic age” the photographs are losing its objectivity and authenticity. By changing the architecture of the image, we create another digital medium. An example for digital imaging is the O.J Simpsons’s mug shot on Time’s June 27, 1994 on the cover. They made the photo much darker and more out of focus, which fit the stereotype of the darker, more sinister African-American as criminal. Although this photo came from the reality, the photo post-processing made it convey a tendency to the viewers, which made the photo relatively unobjective and conveys the photographer’s subjective attitude and intention.
In my opinion, photography can partly capture reality. It records scenes in real life, so it can reflect reality. But photos can be adjusted and changed to show attitudes, and demonstrate what the photographers want the viewer to know. This affects the viewer’s perception of the photo. What’s more, viewers sometimes take photos out of context and get the wrong ideas. The information obtained by only looking at the scene on the photo that happened in a moment is incomplete. Therefore, photography can lead to misunderstandings.
Compared to text and books, photography reflects reality more because it directly shows the scenes. This avoids deviations from textual descriptions and giveS viewers more intuitive information. Compared to videos, its capability of capturing reality is slightly weaker as videos show dynamic scene of a period of time, which are less likely to be taken out of context and misunderstood. Compare to virtual reality, photography definitely captures reality more. Virtual reality shows scenes that are man-made and fictitious, while photography must be based on reality.